debate. >> and her privacy violated by a stalker. erin andrews is in court demanding the hotel be held accountable. i'm jennifer leigh. >> i'm keith cate. thank you very much for joining us tonight. we are getting several reports of tornadoes in the new orleans area and that storm system is headed for florida. you can see in this video from livingston, louisiana, a funnel cloud beginning to form over the hills. >> on i-10 in prairieville, drivers were shocked when what appeared to be a tornado them. you can see swirling winds and some debris around the base of the cloud. >> steve jerve joins us now from the forecast center. >> he is keeping an eye on the radar for us. steve? >> reporter: some intense thunderstorms in this part of the area with an area of low pressure coming out of the west.

let's see what is happening now. it is fairly clear in the western part of louisiana. it is focused in and around the new orleans area. a large tornado was on the ground. west of new orleans, between baton rouge and new orleans. a large tornado had reportedly just crossed interstate 10 between those two cities. another one in hattiesburg, mississippi. very fast jet stream as we have been talking about all winter long. this tends to along with a low level jet stream, high amounts of sheer in the atmosphere create the tornado environment. that red block means a tornado watch. not in effect right now for the bay area, but there are a few break out showers ahead. we have a strong possible thunderstorm threat locally as well as a potential severe weather threat. the prediction center has us at a slight risk at the bay area.

higher risk with a possibility of isolated tornadoes. you see the timing on that. 7:00 a.m. to 4:00 p.m. as we look at the timing on this, you can see roughly in that time frame from west to east as it typically does associated with a cold front, hopefully out of here mostly by noon, but lingers thundershowers could remain in some of those inland areas. we will take a look at the computer models and the line of thunderstorms coming up later. >> sounds good. we will check back with you in about 15 minutes. new tonight, the 911 emergency system is getting back to normal at sarasota county. that happened after 8 on your side made a few phone calls around 1:00 today. callers using a home or an office phone may have heard a busy signal or a recording. cell phone callers were not affected. a sheriff's office spokesperson blamed verizon for this. they said they didn't even know there was a problem until we called. verizon switched the sheriff's

says now all calls are being answered. it is video you will only see on newschannel8. the woman accused in a deadly hit and run caught on camera during a 2010 dui arrest. allison huffman is in a world of trouble. she faces charges of leaveing the scene of a crash after killing a tow truck driver on the howard franklin bridge last week. this is not her first trouble about to see. mark douglas joins us now. >> reporter: we should be clear, the highway patrol has not charged huffman with dui in last week's hit and run case. no one had a chance to even test her because she ditched her car and hid out at the hard rock casino. but in that 2010 drunk driving case, huffman didn't go anywhere except for jail. >> stand over here for me. >> reporter: on the night of july 10, 2010, allison huffman stopped her car in temple terrace and fell asleep. >> and i knew i couldn't drive so i pulled over.

>> i took my keys out of my car. >> i understand. >> reporter: according to this police report, she smelled strongly of alcohol. she slurred her speech. and she swayed when they gave her a field sobriety test. she refused a breathalyzer and had trouble deciding whether to take a field sobriety test. >> if i say yes and then you think i'm still intoxicated or something, i'm screwed. if i say no ... >> reporter: by that time, she already had a previous dui conviction. it wasn't her first rodeo. >> if i say no, you will take me to jail. if i say yes, you will take me to jail. either way i'm going to jail? >> no, if you pass the field sobriety exercises we will make a suggestion on what you should or shouldn't do. you don't want to refuse? >> no. >> reporter: for the next ten minutes, she submitted to a battery of balance tests. >> heel to toe, lean your head back just like this. close your eyes. >> reporter: eventually, she

which as it turns out wasn't really a test at all. >> i want you to count from 20 to 1. i am placing you under arrest for dui. >> reporter: she wanted to make sure her purse was going with her. once again demonstrating this wasn't her first trip to the county jail. >> when i need to do bail and stuff, you can bail yourself out if you have cash. >> reporter: huffman later pleaded no contest to dui and ended up with a fine. community service. suspension of her license, and a year probation. in the current case, huffman told troopers she took off after killing that tow truck driver because she was scared to face the music. and as you just saw, she has heard that tune before. >> yeah, so, will that dui affect the hit and run case? >> reporter: if she goes the trial, the jury will never see that, but the judge absolutely will consider that dui and the one she got before when sentencing time comes around if

anyone, she is innocent until proven guilty. >> thank you mark. president barack obama revealing his plans today to shut down the detention facility at guantanamo bay cuba. it is calling for transferring the remaining detainees to the united states. but, it does not specify where the president argues that gitmo's existence undermines security and provides propaganda material for terrorists. >> it is counterproductive to our fight against terrorists because they use it as propaganda to recruit. >> reporter: marco rubio and david djali believes moving combatants to the united states will only make our enemies bolder. ten years ago, i spent several days in gitmo to see ha life was like behind the razor wire. while touring camp delta, the

was flown in from a secret cia prison and joined others on six by six cells. today fewer than a hundred detainees are left. even back then, critics wanted to shut it down claiming it turned innocent inmates into potential terrorists. coming up to night at 11:00, i will show you more from our time spent there. and tonight's breaking news coming less than a month before president paul visits cuba and i also plan to be there to cover that trip. republican front runner donald trump is hoping for a third straight win in the nevada caucuses tonight. the billionaire enjoys a high profile in las vegas, but nevada voters are famously hard to predict. on the democratic side, hillary clinton and bernie sanders will hold a town hall tonight in south carolina. that state's democratic primary

bernie sanders' campaign is hoping his latest endorsement will help him with black voters. spike lee released a pro sanders ad today. lee said when when bernie gets to the white house, he will do the right thing. that a reference to his award winning 1989 film. and new information in a deadly fire in phoenix arizona. the victims were family members of the shooting. it is unclear what led all up to the shooting. the cdc is investigating 14 new cases of zika in the u.s. and they believe they are sexually transmitted as opposed to someone getting it from a mosquitoes ever seas. they encourage everyone traveling to zika infested

return. bill gates is siding with the fbi against apple to unlock shooter. tim cook believes it would set up a dangerous precedent, but gates says not so if safeguards are put in place. rallies start at tampa and rally tonight on the subject. erin andrew's lawyer is accusing a hotel of aiding her stalker. >> caught on camera. a plane crash lands in the middle of the street. >> polk county school board regroups as it try to find a

>> a gun shop owner describes the mass shooting suspect in michigan as laughing and joking hours before the rampage. the shop owner claims jason dalton bought a jacket with a pocket designed for a handgun. dalton, an uber driver, is charged with six counts of murder and two counts of attempted murder. that has put plans to regulate the ride sharing company in florida. they are calling for stronger background check. a taxi company lobby says uber should be facing the same regulations as cabs do. >> i think the michigan shooting just puts more

you have to have real background checks. that indicates an employee relationship is hogwash. >> some, but not all cab companies in florida require fingerprinting for background checks. they require name checks. shocked and humiliated. that is how a lawyer for sports reporter erin andrew describes his client's reaction to an invasion of privacy. >> reporter: it has been a horrific experience for her since the photos were taken and up loaded. but when it comes to whether the west end marriott should be held accountable, that is where

erin andrews wiped away tears and held her head down when it was reported she was recorded in a nashville motel without her knowing it, but it was up loaded online. she was covering a vanderbilt football game. michael barret reserved the room next to hers. too. he recorded videos through a peephole and up loaded them to the web. he was convicted of stalking andrews earlier. serial stalker. michael barrett. >> reporter: he found out her room number by finding an internal hotel phone. the witness' testimonies were

reservation. >> he called you saying i'm working with her in the hotel? >> reporter: the second was a former nashville marriott employee saying they don't give out the information. andrews listened, wiped tears, shook her head. they requested to hear from psychologists who will testify that andrews suffers lasting effects and possible ptsd. her attorney says she continues to suffer long term effects because that video is still getting hits on the internet. i'm joseph pleasant in nashville for newschannel8. >> erin andrews is a tampa native and a daughter of steve andrews. new tonight, we are getting a ground view of a small plane crash in los angeles. surveillance cameras reported the moment the craft crashed onto the street. that plane is hitting moving cars as it goes along there as

broke off both wings and skids to a halt. the pilot says he was trying to land at a nearby airport when a wind gust blew him off course. well, new video into our news room just now. a tornado is suspected of damaging homes and buildings in kenner, louisiana near the new orleans area. people reported seeing a funnel cloud as severe weather moved into the area there. we talked about it a couple of minutes ago. tornadoes on the ground west of new orleans between baton rouge and new orleans. but this video just in from possible tornado damage as a result of the strong thunderstorms and severe thunderstorms in that area. back here in the state of florida, a lot of sunshine. gorgeous at new port richey. 78 degrees. this is looking to the north. we have a southwesterly wind of 10 miles an hour. these breezes are strong at this hour. that tends to create a mild

south winds at 20 miles an hour. tampa, 74, bringing back the relative humidity at 82%. same story at sun city center. south wind at 8 miles an hour. that's the wind direction. our eight-day forecast, we deal with the possibility of thunderstorms tomorrow. still a warm day, but look how the temperatures are falling between the average line there of 74 degrees. a long material by monday and tuesday, we jump back through the weekend, a lot of sunshine and cooler air overall. so a possibility of showers mostly inland. we have seen that today. we will show you radar here at a second. things are pretty quiet but the overnight low temperatures, 69 degrees. increasing for the commute. a possibility of strong and potentially severe thunderstorms coming along with this line headed our way. 81 brandon.

weeki wachee, 7 79 degrees. this area of low pressure draws in cool air on the western side and feeds a lot of warmth and moisture ahead of the thunderstorms occurring. drier air colored in red. you make out this upper level trough swinging through the south creating the severe weather conditions. and the tornado watch conditions as well in place across the south. big area of low pressure. this one raced out of the southwest into the south today. and continues to drag a lot of moisture as i mentioned. showers, thunderstorms on ahead of that. that's the setup at the moment. you can see jackson, mississippi down to new orleans. the potential for tornadoes is definitely there already. observed tornadoes by radar and the damage there. most of the activity for us is to our east. inland areas, that is. east of the direct tampa bay area. folks out in highlands county have seen a few showers today. no thunderstorms but the thunderstorm chance is there tomorrow. a few showers racing along. eastern parts of polk county. nothing significant. here is the rpm forecast

a few lingering showers this evening. here is the timing. you can see the front arriving with storms after 7:00 a.m. around 8:35, northern areas expected with this line pushing to the east. that's around 11:45. 10 to 11:45 affecting the direct tampa bay area itself. that is around 2:45 in the afternoon. the threat of strong thunderstorms and intense thunderstorms is especially strong before the noon hour. but still, it's there in the early afternoon hours as the front continues to push off to the east behind it, cooler drier air. in fact, highs in the 60s as we head in the rest of the week with a lot of sunshine. we just have to get through tomorrow morning. and, as a result, we have a 70% chance of showers and thunderstorms in that forecast. mostly for the first half of the day. but, clearly, they can occur, especially depending on the timing of the system itself into the early afternoon hours and interior areas. 66 degrees for thursday. 63 friday.

if there are any tornado watches, severe watches, we will pass that along to you. obviously, we will have the storm team on duty to pass anything along that may be sere. >> thank you steve. massive candy bar recall spanning 55 countries. >> where buyers should beware. >> also ahead, selfie security. how one company wants to use pictures to prevent online

(donkey sound) (elephant sound) there's a big difference between making noise, (tapping sound) and making sense. (elephant sound) when it comes to

lip service. our next president needs a real plan to keep social security strong. (elephant noise) hey candidates. enough talk. give us a plan. >> now to an 8 on your side consumer alert. giant chocolate mars is

was revealed they contained plastic. someone found a sharp piece of plastic in a milkiy way mini. one credit card company wants to use selfies to prevent fraud. you can use selfies to prevent online purchases. selfies and fingerprint scans are safer than typing in passwords. the mastercard identity check app requires you to take a selfie every time you buy something online. and you cannot use the same picture each time either. the mastercard app has a fingerprint option. well some good economic news for millennials. that generation has more money in emergency savings than credit card debt. a bank rate analyst says millennials are learned from their parents' mistakes. 22% have more credit card debt than emergency savings. that's the lowest it has been in six years. an oklahoma teacher found a new way to keep third graders

it is called the busy bar. it allows students who may be restless to keep moving by swinging their feet. the creator of the busy bar says other school districts are already placing orders. in honor of black history month, american girl has released a new african-american car. meet nine-year-old melody. she grew up in detroit during the 1960s civil rights era. designers, historians and educators and a civil rights activist collaborated on the doll and her story. >> those dolls last. our josh benson with a look at what is coming up at 5:30. homeless. after the shooting death of a six-year-old boy, a south florida community comes comes

>> right now on newschannel8 at 5:30. >> good evening. i'm jennifer leigh. >> i'm josh benson. thank you very much for being with us tonight. >> much of the southeast is on alert for severe storms and a chance of tornadoes today and this evening. storm team 8 meteorologist steve jerve joins us now. >> no watches in place for us. but the potential for severe weather is there tomorrow. any time between 7:00 a.m. to noon across the bay area from west to east. so let's take a look at the radar. you can see a lot of this activity is far to our west. an intense area of low pressure, a jest stream we have been talking on tends to move the storm tracks a little further south. we have had records of tornadoes west of new orleans. a little bright mark there